China's top offshore oil and gas producer China National
Offshore Oil Corp Limited (CNOOC) said yesterday it had completed a
deal to buy a share in a Nigerian oil mining license in its
biggest-ever overseas acquisition.
The Beijing-based oil company bought a 45 percent stake in
Nigeria's OML 130 oil area, also known as Akpo, from privately
owned Nigerian firm South Atlantic Petroleum Ltd, CNOOC said in a
statement.
In January, it had said it would pay US$2.27 billion in cash for
the stake, but in yesterday's announcement it said it was paying an
additional US$424 million for financial, operating and capital
expenses.
"The completion of this transaction represents a milestone in
our efforts to expand into the world's most prolific oil and gas
basins," Chairman Fu Chengyu said.
The Akpo field, about 200 kilometers off the coast of Port
Harcourt, will be able to pump 225,000 barrels a day of oil when
fully operational in 2008, or nine percent of Nigeria's current
production, according to drilling operator, Total SA.
CNOOC has said it would contribute more than US$2 billion to
develop the field.
Last year, the firm offered US$18.5 billion for California-based
Unocal, but withdrew its bid in August in the face of political
opposition in the United States that the multi-billion takeover
would threaten its national energy security.
CNOOC's shares have risen 24 percent since it first announced
the Nigeria purchase on January 9, outperforming the 8.3 percent
gain on the benchmark Hang Seng Index.
It made a 2.2 percent gain yesterday on the Hong Kong Stock
Exchange to close at HK$6.85 (88 US cents).
In another development, CNOOC on Wednesday said it would invest
about 100 billion yuan (US$12.3 billion) over the next five years
to speed up deepwater drilling along the coast of China and
increase output.
It plans to strengthen partnerships with foreign companies and
also develop its own technologies in deepwater oil and gas
development, according to Tan Dongling, a CNOOC development and
planning manager.
By 2010, more than 50 new gas and oil fields will be completed
and put into production.
The new fields, 24 of which are under construction and 13 being
assessed for development, are located mainly in East China's Bohai
Sea, the Pearl River estuary and the Beibu Gulf in the South China
Sea, Tan said.
Also on Wednesday, CNOOC announced that operations have begun in
its new gas field in the eastern part of the South China Sea.
The field, Huizhou 21-1, produces 54 million cubic meters of
natural gas per day. CNOOC holds a 51 percent stake in it.
(China Daily April 21, 2006)